The frigate Thach will return to its homeport of San Diego on Friday, ending a six-month deployment early due to funding problems caused by sequestration, the deep cuts that were made to the federal budget.

Thach left San Diego on January 8th and has been operating off Central America as part of Operation Martillo, an international effort to disrupt high seas drug trafficking. The 453-foot ship, with a crew of 220 sailors and Coast Guardsmen, captured 379 kilograms of cocaine and more than 1,100 pounds of marijuana, the Navy says. The drugs were worth more than $10 million.

In a statement, Hans E. Lynch, Thach's commanding officer, said, "It's a bittersweet feeling to return home early from deployment. Our counter-narcotics mission is valuable to the U.S. and our partner nations, but I'm glad that we are all able to reunite with our loved ones back here in San Diego."

This might have been the last mission for Thach, a 30-year-old Perry-class frigate. The Navy is phasing frigates out of service in favor of littoral combat ships.